Adopted

"And you're not offended? You were prudish at school... Um sorry, that was not said as a slur."

"School was school Dick. Are you going to a movie by yourself?"

"Yes. Um want to come with me?"

"No but choose going to a movie or having me. I guess a guy like you does it?"

"What? Oh yeah. Are you on medication Kelly?"

"No," she grinned. "It's just that I don't wish to go to college with scarcely any experience. I was hoping... well you know?"

"God you are serious?"

Kelly pushed her chest forward. "It's you call Dick."

"Fuck the movies Kelly. Let's go and eat and then we'll go to my place. Mom and dad won't be home till very late and Chloe is out with her guy and will be even later."

"Take me home now, we'll do it, then order in pizza and you know what we can have for dessert?"

"Yeah, great idea."

"I'll call home to say I'll be late."

"Tell them about midnight, perhaps earlier."

Dick, who was big into track and tennis, was the answer to Kelly's hope to engage with a real man. She warned him repeatedly she was inexperienced so was not up to speed. He delivered her home that evening with Kelly being almost legless.

He thought it was so funny and kissed her at the door and paid homage: "Jesus Karen, you are so tight." He then kissed her so beautifully and said, "Please date me again. I really like you and you fuck surprisingly well for a greenhorn."

"Promise you'll tell me what I should be doing and what you'd really like me to do to you to maximize your enjoyment."

"Yeah I promise and you tell me what you like being done to you. We can also experiment if you are game. I know positions I've never tried yet."

The thought of that make Kelly even weaker at the knees and she slumped but Dick caught her. He used her key to open the door and pushed her in, slapped her butt and said very happily he'd call her in the morning.

Kelly and Dick dated until she and Sharon left for college.

CHAPTER 4

Kelly was thrilled to possess good photos of her birth mother Connie Shutter and she now had a complete album on photos of Samuel Levy, her birth father, given her by his three daughters Helen, Doris and Marlene who had copies taken off photos each of them possessed.

She wrote to the Shutter brothers, Victor, Hayden, Seth and Nolan requesting photos and information about her mother. Kelly explained she was their late sister's daughter and said she was eighteen and wished to know more about her mother.

But she received no responses until almost six weeks later Kelly received a call and a woman with a Canadian accent asked, "Is that Kelly Armstrong, daughter of the late Connie Shutter?"

"Yes, I'm Kelly."

"I'm Mrs Monique Shutter who married Hayden, the second oldest Shutter boy. I remember your mother well as my family was close neighbors of the Shutter's. I'm a designer and am in New York to attend an industry seminar. If you wish I could meet you somewhere tomorrow night from 4:30 to 6:30 at the latest."

"If I wish. Oh how I've wished for such contact Mrs Shutter. Yes oh yes I'll come to you. I know nothing, absolutely nothing about my mother as a person and my father never saw me."

"Oh you poor child."

Arrangements were made to meet at the tea and coffee bar in Mrs Shutter's hotel. Kelly said she was blonde and would be wearing a short blue dress and white leggings.

Kelly re-read the investigator's brief references to the Shutter family and confirmed her mom who would have been the youngest of the Shutter children and who would have been forty-one now had she lived meant this Mrs Shutter who married Hayden would be about fifty. She went to Virginia that evening with the news.

"What do you think about this Kelly?"

She smiled when Kelly burst forth, "I'm wildly excited. Do I tell mom and dad?"

"They have always been open with you."

Kelly nodded and said good, that answered that. "Should I meet Mrs Shutter?"

"You had written to the family inviting approaches."

"Well that answers that. Am I dumb or am I what?"

Virginia said, "You did say you were wildly excited and that could cloud your thinking. My advice is remain calm when you talk to this woman. You may have to probe but probe gently. She may feel guilty about her intervention knowing her husband and brothers apparently wanted nothing to do with you knowing their sister wasn't married when she gave birth to you."

"You think that's the sole reason?"

"They may not have been thrilled when learning the man's name was Levy, possibly Jewish."

"But that's being racist or religious discriminatory."

"That's how some people are darling. Hug me so I may share your happiness."

That evening when Leonie sat down with Stephen for a martini before dinner, Kelly carrying a coke joined them."

"So the countdown for leaving to college begins tomorrow as it will be exactly two weeks till you leave," Stephen grinned, patting to space on the sofa beside him."

"Oh that?"

Her parents looked surprised.

"Mom and dad, I have some astonishing news to tell you. I've waited to get you both together to tell you that earlier today a woman called me, a Mrs Shutter who sounds Canadian."

Kelly was sure her parents would react favorably but her mom's reaction astonished her.

Leonie jumped to her feet, dropping her drink on to the mat with the glass not breaking and held out her arms and shouted, "Darling!"

Leonie, practically smothering Kelly, waltzed her around the room cooing, "Oh I so much wanted this to happen, oh I so much wanted this to happen."

Kelly was now red-faced and excited. She partly pulled out of Leonie's grip and turning to her father grinned, "Is this news okay with you dad?"

"Very okay. I'm for anything that makes you girls happy."

Kelly sponged the floor mat while Stephen fetched Leonie another drink. He returned and Leonie said, "This woman married one of the sons is in New York and meets Kelly tomorrow. I think Kelly should go alone don't you?"

"I think that's preferable but where are you to meet?"

"At the coffee bar in the foyer of her hotel."

"Good, a public place. Yes you'll learn more and the woman will be more relaxed without other people there. She'll be aware she is breaking the wall of silence although must have decided the men shouldn't have acted like they have."

Leonie asked what did Kelly know about the woman.

"Not much, the call was friendly although short. Her name is Monique and she married the second oldest brother."

Karen was surprised when Stephen said instantly, that would probably mean she's in her late forties unless she was considerable older or younger than Hayden.

"Hayden, you remember he is the second in line?"

"Kelly I looked at that investigator's report ten days ago and thought I ought to write a formal letter to each of them as an attorney but decided not to mention I had done that to you to avoid your disappointment if no replies came back, and I received none."

"So this is why Mrs Shutter is responding in person?"

"Possibly if she read my letter."

"Thank you daddy."

"It's a pleasure. Invite her here if you wish; this is your home."

"I will."

"Oh yes, I'm so eager to meet her," Leonie said. "If she can't come ask her if you can photograph her with your phone camera and oh don't forget to ask her to send family photos and details. She'll know the Shutters are also your family otherwise she'd not be doing this. She sounds a nice woman. What kind of designer is she?"

"I'll find out."

* * *

The hotel lobby was fairly crowed but to Kelly's relief she couldn't see any one of blondes wearing white leggings. Then a voice behind her right shoulder said, "Hi Kelly."

Kelly spun round. She'd rehearsed to remain cool to avoid spooking the woman but that preparedness failed to fire. She burst into tears and clung to the smiling woman who fortunately was bigger-framed than Kelly and managed Kelly charge without being knocked over.

"There, there. It's all right. Come, let's sit at the coffee bar. I know this is a huge moment for you. You don't need to call me aunt, please call me Monique."

"Y-you appear to be Connie's age?"

"Yes. I was one of her friends. We lived in the same street and we went through school together. I visited their home a great deal, even when they moved twice and that's how Hayden came to take a shine to me."

"Ohmigod, ohmigod, you knew my birth mother THAT well."

"Yes dear and I know she would have despair at the way Mr Levy rejected you. Oh but Connie would have been so proud of you being so beautiful. Indeed really dressed up you'll look stunning and I know how people look with lithe bodies like you when dressed up because I'm design fashion dresses and coats and all the time deal with models and elegant women. You appear to be of college age."

"I begin college in two weeks."

They chatted for the next two hours, Kelly finding the Shutter's had two young teen daughters and finally Monique said, "I have to go now darling. I have this for you. She handed over a memory stick containing a digital copy of the Shutter's family history compiled by Nancy, Victor's wife and then a white leather-bound photo album.

"This is my real gift to you. It's a photographic record from my photo collection that gives you a pictorial history of your mother from the time of her birth until only a week before you were born, which was the last time I saw her."

Every so excited, Kelly hugged and kissed and hugged Monique and both were wet-eyed.

"I'll email you photos of me and my potted history," Kelly said as Monique handed across her business card. "Could you do one wee thing for me."

"Of course darling."

"This is my adoptive mother's mobile number. Could you find a moment to call her for a brief chat. As I said earlier her name is Leonie Armstrong. She is so happy for me to be meeting you and I know she would be bursting out of her skin to say hi and to thank you for being so kind in setting up this meeting with me. And tell her about Hayden and your children Jacki and Ella. Oh this has been so wonderful."

Monique hesitated and said, "No let's do better than that. You and Leonie meet me here in the morning at 7:00 and have breakfast with me. I'll have to leave at 8:15 for our first workshop where I'm on the panel."

As soon as Kelly was outside the hotel she called Leonie.

"Slow down," Leonie laughed, all your words are running together.

Leonie was astonished to receive the invitation to breakfast next day and yes, she'd be there. Nothing but a massive tidal wave or earthquake would prevent her from going with Kelly.

Later they sat on the sofa and slowly traced the life of Connie Shutter pictorially. Later in bed Kelly fell asleep over the album,

* * *

In early September Sandra's mother Tammy Wilks drove the girls accompanied by Leonie in her Lexus to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, midway between New York City and Boston where Sandra would study education and Kelly would be an honors student in business and management studies. Both mothers approved of the roomy three-bedroom apartment and were delighted their somewhat lively daughters had a year-older late-starter girl of German descent to share with them. Claudia Wagner appeared polite, friendly and very lever-headed.

The girls worked and studied rather diligently and it was Claudia who produced the first dates for the girls from Manhattan. Although Claudia was conservative by nature that certainly did not preclude her from being a devotee to carnal stimulation. In fact before long Sandra learned that Claudia had a growing reputation among freshman as being The Tigress. She told Kelly that and they giggled and discussed what did they really know about other women and their desires.

"My mom has a least a couple short-term affairs a year," Sandra revealed.

"Your mother... but butter wouldn't melt in her mouth."

"What? Oh I think I know what that means. Yes quite."

"I picked up that saying from my Gran Virginia who learnt it off her mother."

"Wow, that's it."

"What is it?"

Sandra said she write a paper on some aspect of language study and colloquial sayings would be easy to compile and interesting as well.

"You'd get higher marks for greater in-depth research on a topic like Manhattan dialects."

"Oh yeah, where would I start and finish on that one? But you are right, I'll try to get back to the origins of those sayings."

"The Internet will be a good place to start. And don't forget Shakespeare's huge contribution."

"Ohmigod, that's the heading for my paper, 'The Bard's Stimulation.'

"Oh god no, that has an undertone of masturbation."

They were shrieking with laughter with Claudia entered the room. "Laugh now and scream tonight. I have three guys lined up for us."

One Saturday morning after Sandra and Claudia had gone off shopping and Kelly had made her mandatory call home, she pulled out Monique's business card and called her.

A guy answered.

"Hi may I please speak to Monique."

"She's out buying food. Are you the girl?"

"Excuse me?"

"Connie's kid."

"Yes I am. Hi Mr Shutter."

"I don't wish to speak to you."

"May I ask why not?"

"No and don't call again."

Kelly was only a little upset. She knew with the Shutter men she was dealing with a conspiracy to shut her out. The idiot. His piles were probably hurting him.

She giggled and realized she'd called the home number rather than Monique's cell phone number. Well she'd never make that mistake again."

Her phone went.

"Um this is grumpy Hayden Shutter."

"How the hell did your lovely wife marry a dick like you!"

Now Kelly was wild and had the chance to hit back.

"No wait, don't go. I apologize. I'll be in the crap from my wife for talking to you like that."

"Ah attempting to save your butt, eh?"

"You sound intelligent as well as look pretty."

"You bothered to look at my photographs?"

"Yes."

"Yes what?"

"Um I had to swallow hard and sniff to avoid bawling. You exhibit Connie's likeness to some degree."

"Ohmigod, Monique married the most sensitive of the Shutter brothers."

"How old are you? Monique said eighteen but you talk like a mature woman and if you must know I'm not big into that psychological stuff."

"I would have thought you would have understood sarcastic teasing."

He laughed and said he ought to have known that was what it was. "My mistake. I thought I was talking to a giggle teenager."

"That phase is behind me."

"Yeah and I've just been verbally lashed to received confirmation of that."

They talked for a couple more minutes and then Hayden said, "Look Monique's parents live in Rochester and we cross to visit them with the kids every three months. If you are willing to get to Rochester we could all meet. We could do that soon before the snow season starts."

"Yes I'd like that but it's a drive of about two hundred miles so could I bring a girlfriend for companionship?"

Monique called back later that morning and said Hayden had told her Kelly had called.

"I hope he was polite; he had a big night with his pals last night and can be grumpy."

"No he was okay and we talked for a while."

"He's invited me to meet you guys when you all visit your parents."

"What?" Monique said, amazed her husband had said that.

"I said you obviously had married the most sensitive of the brothers."

Monique laughed and they arranged a date.

The girls provided driving record details and decided Sandra should make the hire because she'd had been driving longer than Kelly. Kelly paid and because of their young age were required to appear in person to make the booking.

Early morning on their weekend adventure they drove off in a Cadillac G5 two-door and arriving without mishap booked into their hotel and then went to the address in Brighton after confirming the Shutter's had arrived.

Two dark-haired girls, Jackie who was sixteen and Ella almost fifteen, rushed out to greet then.

"Hi, I'm Kelly," she said for easy of identification because Sandra was also blonde, and this is my friend Sandra.

"Oh hi cousin Kelly," Jacki said, rushing in to hug and kiss. Kelly put out and arm for the somewhat shy Ella to join them.

The adults then came out from the house and introductions were made.

Kelly who was taller than Monique found she was the same height as the clean-shaven Hayden who was well overdue for a hair trim and she knew at the way he was looking at her that he was impressed.

"Ohmigod you are beautiful," he said, and you have so much of your mother about you."

"Yes I agree," said Barbara, Monique's mother. "Hello dear."

Monique took both Kelly and Sandra by the hands and led them inside for coffee.

After lunch Hayden had almost to tear his elder daughter away from Kelly. Jacki was besotted by her new-found cousin.

"You girls entertain Sandra. Kelly and I are going for a walk."

"Aw dad, can't I come?" Jacki whined.

"No Jacki," Monique said. "Your father wants to talk about family. Do Jacki's hair Sandra, she loves that." Sandra grinned, knowing that was a diversion.

Uncle and niece walked towards the Oak Hill Country Club.

Hayden said, pushing a hand through his dark brown hair, "This is very difficult for me."

Kelly took his arm and said sweetly. "Hayden (he's invited her to drop the uncle title) please, I don't want you apologizing to me every five minutes. That can be done when I get you all to accept me, if that's possible, but if that happens or I accept I've gone as far as I can I'll want us to all meet for a Connie Remembrance Day and people will be free to say what they wish and put that dark side to this affair to rest."

"You'll probably find Seth is okay, willing to bend eventually, but it will be tough going with Nolan who was still a kid at the time and adored Connie. But I'm afraid I can see no way you'll influence Victor to bend. He was born a hard bastard and nothing will change him."

"Well I'll take this slowly and perhaps I may surprise you and, after what you've just told me, surprise myself. I think little a little like my mother will help more than what I presently think."

"Look, why don't you come and live with Monique and me during your summer break?"

"That's very kind but as you know I'm doing a business degree and wish to proceed on for an MBA at a top university if I can and so I must work for at least part of summer."

"Then I'll find you a position in our office administration. I'm in a practice with four other architects."

"Oooh, a position with some responsibility?"

"Yes of course. We often have Canadian undergrads passing through. I ended my latest two-year spell as managing partner earlier this year so have some idea of what your requirements are."

"Oh that's wonderful. Come on, let's go back and join with the others. Look may Sandra and I take the girls out tonight to places where teens go. My feeling is Ella is finding things difficult because she feels Jacki is zooming away from her. She may find being out with us she has tasted experience as a young adult and will be better for it."

"Yes do that. You are so kind."

"Hayden that's lovely of you but please put the proposal to Monique. Assure her there will be no booze, no drugs and no smoking or bad behavior."

"Er yes. I should have thought of seeking Monique's opinion."

"Who cares so long as it's done," Kelly laughed. "Come on, I'll race you back."

The young gazelle left her uncle in her wake but stopped well short of the house in case her cousins saw Kelly in the lead."

"You run well," Hayden puffed.

"And your exercise is lifting glasses of beer, I know."

He laughed and they were still laughing about something when they walked into the house. Monique smiled and said, "You have finished already."

"It was out of my hands darling. Kelly cut my off about apologizing and said they can come later. She wants to work on my brothers, picking them off one at the time I think. So she's coming to stay with us this summer and will work at my office in admin to count towards business department credits."